


El Mundo Hermoso

by harimaron



Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: All That Skate, Gen, Ice Cream, M/M, Shoma speaking English, Shoma visits Madrid, blink and you'll miss it YuzuShoVier - Freeform, post shoma graduating from his coaches, post-all that skate 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-07
Updated: 2019-06-07
Packaged: 2020-04-12 03:10:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19123360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/harimaron/pseuds/harimaron
Summary: After All That Skate, Javi invites Shoma to visit him in Madrid over the summer before his training camp starts in hopes of making his transition to a new coaching team a little bit easier. They share ice cream and Javi shows Shoma that the world can be beautiful even outside of Japan.





	El Mundo Hermoso

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally meant to be a very short thing for a prompt I got from mresundance: "Javi/Shoma - Getting ice cream in Madrid and being snuggle bugs." Needless to say, it turned into a little more than a 'very short thing', but here it is. Bonus: very slight hints at YuzuShoVier if you want to see them and interpret them that way.

Shoma looked no more lost than he usually did and Javi took comfort in that fact as he guided the tiny Japanese skater by the shoulders through the Madrid crowds. They’d been spending the past few days together ever since Shoma had flown in for some special one-on-one training from the newly retired Spanish figure skater that the latter invited him for when they had done All That Skate together in South Korea.

“This way,” Javi said, squeezing both of Shoma’s shoulders from behind before letting go once the crowds seemed to disperse so that he could instead walk beside him with a single hand rested gently on Shoma’s back between his shoulder blades--a comforting gesture that he knew Shoma would appreciate in a foreign country full of Spanish-speakers.

When they finally reached El Retiro Park, Javi took the chance while there weren’t many people around and grabbed the other skater’s hand, weaving his fingers through Shoma’s as he tugged him along. Shoma made a little sound of surprise but didn’t protest--still, his cheeks looked a lot warmer no matter how much he seemed to try to fight off the unwanted blush.

“It is beautiful…” Shoma commented in his best English, and for a second, Javier couldn’t tell of Shoma was complimenting the park or something else--but it must have been the park, he decided.

“It is. Everything in Spain is very beautiful,” he said with extreme fondness towards his home country as they walked down a lovely path surrounded by greens, reds, yellows, pinks, violets… The most beautiful part had to be some of the architectural designs that Javi couldn’t wait to show to Shoma later on--particularly the _Palacio de Cristal_ , Crystal Palace. It was just one of the countless of places in Spain that he wished for Shoma to experience himself, almost as a way of showing him that it might not be so bad training in a foreign country come next skating season--because no matter how much Shoma tried to hide it, anyone who knew him knew how attached Shoma was to life in Japan--even Yuzuru had said something to him about how he was worried about Shoma adapting now that he could no longer train in his own beloved home country.

He took Shoma to the central pond, which was probably one of the most populous areas of the park. There were people boating, and even more people enjoying picnics, or just hanging out in the large surrounding area. Javi turned towards Shoma and Shoma, feeling his gaze upon him, looked up curiously.

"You want _helado_? Ice cream?"

Shoma didn't need to know English to understand what he'd asked. Instead of letting go of Shoma's hand, Javi tugged him towards the ice cream stand by the water. Only when they reached it did he let go.

"Which one do you want?” he asked, gesturing to the large picture with different flavoured cones on it. He watched as Shoma took a look at the options before pointing at the pink one.

“Strawberry,” Shoma said, voicing out the syllables. His pronunciation still sounded more Japanese than English but the two were close enough that it didn’t matter. There was a small spark in his eyes as he looked at the picture, betraying his affinity for sweet things, which Javi couldn’t help but find adorable. He spontaneously reached over to ruffle Shoma’s hair a little as he side-stepped him to order for them.

“ _Buenos días. Quiero dos helados de cucurucho, uno de fresa y uno de vainilla, por favor._ ”

Beside him, Shoma rocked on the balls of his feet a little awkwardly as he listened to the sounds of the unfamiliar language coming from Javi’s lips. Once Javi passed cone of strawberry ice cream topped with strawberry syrup to him though, he received it happily, his tongue automatically darting out to catch a droplet of cream that threatened to pour down the side of the cone. This made Javi chuckle before he put down the money, said his thanks, and then, with his own vanilla cone in hand, guided Shoma over to a shaded area under a large tree, knowing how Shoma felt about too much sun.

They sat close together at the foot of the tree, a little bit away from other people and with a nice view of the pond. Shoma busily licked at his ice cream, moaning out soft sounds of approval. If a Japanese word or two escaped his lips, Javi didn’t comment on it--it reminded him a little of eating with Yuzu and he knew it was a cultural thing to compliment the taste of something when eating. Still, the way Shoma did it was somehow extra cute, especially when he tried to correct himself and say something in English instead. Javi himself worked on his vanilla cone and after a while he noticed Shoma curiously peering over as though he wanted to ask something.

“¿Que?” he asked, playfully bumping his shoulder against Shoma’s. Shoma stuttered a little before he was able to find his words.

“Vanilla--you like it most?” he asked. Javi smiled brilliantly in response.

“My favourite is green tea-- _matcha_ ice cream. But here there is no--not in this park. Yours is strawberry?” Shoma broke eye contact once Javi eyed his pink ice cream and Javi couldn’t help but notice the hint of a similar shade of pink develop on the side of Shoma’s face.

“Chocolate,” Shoma said, correcting him. “But here, this look better to me.” He angled his body a little more towards Javi and tentatively held his cone out towards him a little bit, not enough to force it upon him but just enough to offer a taste if Javi wanted one. “Want try, _Habi_ ?” That way he said his name--the same way Yuzuru always did--made it very hard not to smile and Javi couldn’t resist the offer. He reached out with his free hand and rested it over Shoma’s on the cone to hold it steady as he leaned down for a lick, the strawberry flavour hitting his taste buds in a pleasant way. Perhaps it was just in his imagination, but he was pretty sure he could taste a hint of _Shoma_ on the cream as well, somehow making it even sweeter.

“Want mine?” he asked a little too eagerly then, holding his vanilla cone out in return after taking his hand off of Shoma’s.

Shoma was a little more shy in taking a taste, his tongue swiping across the white cream quickly before disappearing back into his mouth. Watching him, Javi suddenly couldn’t help  but nudge the cone closer to his face until it smeared his lips and chin. Shoma made a sound of surprise and Javi couldn’t hold back a laugh when he saw those wide, owlish eyes widening and blinking at him in surprise. Shoma’s tongue immediately darted out, trying to lick up the mess that Javi made and it was rather enticing to watch--almost beckoned him to do it again just to lean in and lick the cream right off of him. But no, they were in a public place and that was out of the question, so he buried those thoughts as deeply as he could manage with Shoma being as close to him as he was right now and looking so cute on top of that.

Shoma--who suddenly looked offended, and Javi only had a moment’s warning before his own face was attacked in a similar manner by the strawberry ice cream--and he really should have seen it coming. This time they both broke out in soft laugher, Javi wiping his face with the back of his hand and licking the ice cream off his lips--and then without much warning attacking Shoma again. Shoma squeaked and tried to deflect it, his hands grabbing Javi’s wrist despite the cone held in one of them and his body leaning as far away from him as possible. He nearly fell onto his back if Javi didn’t catch him, his free arm reflexively snaking around Shoma’s waist and pulling him back into an upright position with strength that he attributed to a lifetime devoted to sports. He decided to stop his assault and instead kept his arm around Shoma, drew him in closer until he was leaning against him, and affectionately ran his hand up and down Shoma’s arm to make sure he felt safe. It paid off when he felt Shoma relax against his side.

“You have a little on your chin,” he pointed out with a gesture towards Shoma’s chin, and Shoma’s free hand flew up to wipe at his own face to get the rest of the ice cream off.

They got comfortable, leaning against the base of the tree, huddled up together as they finished their cones. When he glanced at Shoma’s face again, he couldn’t help but reach out to wipe the bit of pink cream off the corner of Shoma’s mouth with his thumb. Shoma’s face was--as expected--soft to the touch and with a hint of extra warmth under the skin. He realized this was probably a bit much considering where they were and didn’t let his touch linger. Shoma seemed rather calm now--and surprisingly hadn’t fallen asleep yet, as he was prone to doing almost at any given moment.

“So what do you think of it? Of España.” His hand had maneuvered down to Shoma’s waist, where it was a little better concealed from view by Shoma’s arm.

“Is beautiful. I still miss Japan.”

Javi’s eyes softened in sympathy. Shoma always tried to look so strong, so sure of himself and what he was doing, but Javi knew that even having made peace with the need to switch his coaching team and move his training location overseas, the sadness that came with it would probably never fully leave Shoma--at least not for a while.

“You will be okay,” Javi reassured. “You have Yuzu. And me, of course. And everyone loves you.” He was referring to the other skaters, of course. Perhaps not _everyone_ , but a good number of them were in agreement that Shoma was wonderful, both on and off the ice, and he hoped that Shoma could see that. His words succeeded in getting a shy smile out of Shoma.

“I will go to see Yuzu-kun next week,” Shoma announced. “In Toronto.”

“Good. The whole team is so great. You will have a good time with them--and with Yuzu.” There was a strong sense of nostalgia in his own voice that couldn’t fall on deaf ears even if he wanted it to. Shoma may not have been able to understand his every word, but he no doubt was able to pick up on that feeling of both longing and love for his beloved former team.

“I know,” Shoma said, his tone still sounding like he wasn’t a hundred percent sure of what he was doing, and maybe that was okay for now. Javi trusted that Shoma would figure it out--a firm trust instilled in him by Yuzuru, who had already known about Shoma’s ‘decision’ even before the public announcement was made. No matter what decision Shoma would end up making, the both of them would unconditionally support him and have his back, and for now, that had to be enough.

He gently nudged at Shoma’s leg with his knee. “Come on. I still have to show you the Crystal Palace. It is much nicer than anything you will find in Toronto,” he said, mostly as a joke--but perhaps a small part of him contemplated a probably unlikely and mostly hypothetical idea of Shoma moving to train in Spain, with him.

They were back on their feet and once again treading through the beautiful park in the heart of Madrid before Shoma was able to respond to the light-hearted jab towards the city Javi spent so many years training in, no doubt needing a while to process the English words in his head. Javi almost thought Shoma didn’t understand him at all, and was going to make peace with that when the answer came.

“Nicer than even Yuzu-kun?” Shoma had the audacity to ask.

“That is not fair!” Javi balked, somehow managing to sound half offended and half on the verge of laugher. Shoma himself burst into giggles and ducked when Javi tried to muss up his hair in revenge. “I should have listened when Yuzu warned you are a brat. That innocent face is just an act.” Despite the words, Javi’s tone remained entirely playful and fond. He was entirely glad to see Shoma laughing and finally looking so carefree. He would definitely be okay out there.

Shoma seemed like he was going to respond before his breath got caught in his throat. Javi caught up with him and looked over his shoulder at the breathtaking sight of the Crystal Palace that had effectively done just that to Shoma.

“See? Nicer than even _Yuzu-kun_ ,” he teased, echoing Shoma’s own words right back at him.

Shoma didn’t reply, instead seeming too preoccupied taking in what was no doubt one of the most beautiful sights he had ever seen, created by not only the palace, but also by everything around it: the pond with the lovely fountain in the middle, all the wildfowl residing there, a nest of turtles on a rock by the water, all the greenery--it all painted a picture that Javi hoped gave Shoma the promise of a plethora of wonderful sights wherever he ended up going next, no matter where that ended up being.

Shoma finally looked his way, and as soon as they locked eyes, Javi decided that this had been a good idea--inviting Shoma out here before he set out to make the next biggest decision of his life.

“Let’s go back,” Shoma said suddenly, catching him by surprise.

“What?”

“To the ice rink--to skate.”

Javi felt the corners of his lips curve upward into a smile at Shoma’s sudden inspiration. _This_ was the Shoma Uno whose entire life was about _skating_.

“Okay, Shoma, whatever you want.”

Because once Shoma wanted to _skate_ , there was nothing that would stop him from _skating_.

And so back to the ice they went.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! :) If you enjoyed, please consider leaving a review, because they keep me wanting to write more.


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